1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the manufacture of candles. More particularly, the invention relates to the manufacturing of a wax impregnated candle wick. Most particularly, the invention relates to dies used in the manufacture of a wax impregnated candle wick.
2. State of the Art
It is well known in the art of candle making to pass a wick material through a bath of molten candle wax to impregnate the wick with wax. In the mass production of candles, a continuous string of wick material (cotton, paper, or other material) is fed through a series of operations including bathing the wick in molten wax. The state of the art apparatus for bathing the wick material is usually a single idler pulley or grooved stud located below the surface of the molten wax bath. The wick material is guided by pulleys or grooved studs to the bath whereupon it is fed through the bath by travelling under the single idler pulley or grooved stud which is located beneath the surface of the molten wax. Upon exiting the bath, the wax impregnated wick is passed through one or more dies whereby excess wax is trimmed and the final diameter of the wick is determined
Prior art FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate a state of the art die 10 for trimming wax impregnated candle wicks. The die is an aluminum plate approximately 0.5 inches by approximately 18.0 inches by approximately 5.0 inches. The plate has left and right notches 12, 14 and mounting holes 16, 18 between which there are located a plurality of tapered die holes 20a-20i, typically of different sizes. The state of the art die has several disadvantages. Most notably, it is difficult to thread the wick through the holes in the die. This is particularly so when the wick is impregnated with hot molten wax. During wick production, it is not uncommon for the continuous wick string to break whereafter, the die must be rethreaded, a time consuming and dangerous operation as the die is heated to keep the wax soft as the wick passes through it. In addition, the aluminum die plates need frequent replacement in order to maintain consistency in wick diameter. The aluminum is soft enough to wear over time, enlarging the holes so that the wicks manufactured with the die have too large diameters. Wicks with too large diameters will bind or jam the wick making machine or will not fit through the eyelets designed to hold them.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide an improved candle wick die plate.
It is also an object of the invention to provide an improved candle wick die plate which avoids the disadvantages of the prior art.
It is another object of the invention to provide an improved candle wick die plate which is easy to thread.
It is still another object of the invention to provide an improved candle wick die plate which can be threaded without exposing the worker""s hands to the hot die surface.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide an improved candle wick die plate which is easy to thread when a wick string breaks during production.
It is still another object of the invention to provide an improved candle wick die plate which is suitable for an assembly line manufacturing process.
In accord with these objects which will be discussed in detail below, the die plate according to the invention includes an aluminum subframe with a split stainless steel die station. The die station has a lower member and a plurality of removable upper members. The die holes are aligned with their diameters collinear with the division between the upper members and the lower member. According to the presently preferred embodiment, each upper member is associated with a single die hole, half of which is defined by the upper member and the other half of which is defined by the lower member. Each upper member is preferably provided with an insulated handle and the lower member is preferably provided with a plurality of clamps for clamping the upper members in position. The upper and lower members are preferably provided with mating pins and holes for rapid alignment. The die plate according to the invention is easily threaded by unclamping an upper member from the lower member, removing it, laying wick material in the lower half of the die hole defined by the lower member, and then replacing the upper member. The stainless steel material used for the die plate is highly wear resistant and the wicks produced with it have a consistent diameter. In addition to saving considerable time during normal threading operations, the split die plates of the invention provide other unexpected advantages. For example, if a wick string breaks upstream from the die, it can be repaired with a knot and the upper member of the die can be lifted momentarily to allow the knot to pass.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reference to the detailed description taken in conjunction with the provided figures.